Sibanye-Stillwater has agreed to acquire Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) 50% stake in Kroondal and Marikana platinum group metal (PGM) mines in South Africa.
Sibanye-Stillwater already owns 50% interest in both PGM mines under the pool-and-share agreements (PSAs).
Under the deal, the company will purchase Anglo American Platinum’s stake in both mines for a purchase price of ZAR1 ($0.06). In exchange, Sibanye-Stillwater will take responsibility for all closure costs and rehabilitation liabilities.
As per the terms of the new agreements, the infrastructure of the Kroondal will be used for the mining in Sibanye-Stillwater’s adjacent Rustenburg resource.
Amplats CEO Natascha Viljoen said: “We are pleased to have agreed to sell our 50% interest in the PSAs to Sibanye-Stillwater. Whilst the Marikana operation is on care and maintenance, the Kroondal operation has a short mine life under the current PSA terms.
“By enabling Kroondal to mine through the boundary at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Rustenburg operations, we will extract our attributable share of the Kroondal reserves more quickly and efficiently than under the previous mine plan, unlocking greater value for Anglo American Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater.”
Kroondal is a shallow underground PGM mine with two concentrators situated on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex, 12km east of the town of Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa.
The mine had 1.10 million 4E PGM ounces of mineral reserves and 4.2 million 4E PGM ounces mineral resources, as of December 2020.
Marikana assets include PGM mining operations situated on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex, 40km east of the town of Rustenburg, in the North-West province of South Africa.
It had 21.5 million ounces of 4E PGM mineral reserves and 124.4 million ounces of 4E PGM mineral resources, as of December 2020.
